the bad news is we're out of band aids...

...the good news is i recycled the box to make some pretty washi flowers for this week's ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ card in celebration of earth day. want to see?

recycled elements: band aid box used as a base for the poinsettias, red heart earring used in place of a brad; patterned paper: echo park, my mind's eye, studio calico; journal card: echo park; poinsettia die: bosskut; washi tapes: october afternoon, my mind's eye, recollections, heidi swapp, martha stewart, love my tapes; ink: colorbox; glossy white cardstock: paper accents; adhesives: elmers brand gluetape, 3m foam tape, sewing machine

i covered the inside of the flattened box-- which is nice thin white chipboard-- with strips of all my pretty red washi tapes, then used my bosskut poinsettia die:

i've also up-cycled a garage-sale earring, to use in place of a brad; jeff bent the back over for me, so it would hold the flower together:

i used the sketch and flowery elements of kirsty vittetoe's awesome card, the CASE-ing of which is this week's challenge at city crafter:

this is a pretty restrained card, for me, but i love the bright colors and i'm pretty excited to have at least one greeting which will be mail-able with just *one* postage stamp, lol!

meanwhile, stephanie has also made another lovely card for your inspiration, why not jump on over to ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ and see that right now?!

awash in washi!

did you see the current challenge (week #251) at city crafter? it's WASHI TAPE, which i know for a fact that most of us really love because we recently made holiday-themed washi cards at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ and the cards we got were beyond awesome. one of the things i was very aware of when making my own cards that fortnight, was how many tapes i was *not* using... specifically... i have a lot of neutral tans and browns, and i was thinking it'd be cool to use a lot of them together. so i did! :)

tapes: ok, see, the problem with washi and deco tape is many of them only have their brand name on the outer packaging and once it's gone, you have no idea where it came from, but some of the brands i know are: heidi swapp, tim holtz, love my tapes, little b, mt, my mind's eye, october afternoon and recollections; black chipboard thickers: american crafts; labels: dymo; adhesives: elmers brand gluetape, 3m foam tape, sewing machine

i was going for a sort of marquetry look, like in woodworking, where the pieces are inset. my original plan-- inspired by the technique of this card of leslie's --was to drop the washi-adorned circles into same-sized-holes which i'd removed from the washi-covered squares. as it turned out, they really didn't stand out very much, so i wound up making skinny skinny black mats for the circles and sewing them on top of the squares, instead. speaking of miss leslie, she recently sent me a lovely gift of a few (ahem!) "extra" thickers she had (ta v much, missus!) and i've used some of them here.

this may not be the BEST card they get at city crafter, but i bet it has the most types of tape on it! for the record, i used 23. ok, actually, when i write it down sounds a bit embarrassing to have 23 different NEUTRAL rolls of tape. ok yeah, let's just forget i mentioned it, lol. do go check out the DT and readers' cards at CCCB, though, they are pretty awesome! ♥

speaking of quilt-inspired cards...

...here are a few more ideas i came up with, and since they're all made 100% from paper scraps, i can link them up with the fab "use it up" challenge on the city crafter blog, woohoo! :)

i *LOVE* making cards out of scraps! sometimes i will use actual quilting patterns to come up with ideas, but these four were just the product of punching or trimming shapes and then moving them around until i liked how they looked.

i sort my scraps by color and keep them in folders in one of my filing cabinets. i put solids and prints, paper-weight and card-stock weight, of every manufacturer all together, sort of like a painter's palette, because that's how i tend to use them.

the card above is another take on maud vantours' fabulous folded paper installations that i saw on pinterest a few months ago. this is my favorite version because the ink on the inside edges makes them stand out so much more!

i had so much fun making these that they-- and maybe even a few other ideas i have up my sleeve-- will be the subject of my next set of classes at paper anthology. if you happen to live within driving distance of kenvil, nj, i hope you'll check out the march newsletter for full details! :)

EAD valentine hop

the lovely amy tsuruta and the rest of us EAD tribute artists are back with some valentine *LooOOoOOoooOOvE* for you, and this time i (modestly, lol!) like my card so much that i cannot wait one more minute to show you!

(lion, hearts, and valentine stickerz: EAD designs; patterned paper: american crafts, echo park, recollections, studio calico; tab stickers: sei; tiny index card: amy tangerine/american crafts; "and" brad: my mind's eye; embossed labels: dymo; border punch: fiskars; ink: colorbox; adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner, 3m foam tape, sewing machine)

miss amy gave me the EAD stickerz i used this time: that adorable lion, the "valentine" word and the hearts actually came from two different sets that i combined together. i added in a bunch of other miscellaneous bits and bobs to make my little valentine collage and finished off with a dymo label sentiment. now all i have to do is hide this thing for another ten days, so lovely husband jeff doesn't get a peek at it before the big day!

i'm linking up with city crafter's "love story" challenge, which you should totally go and visit because, as always, the DT have created amazingly lovely eye candy!

speaking of valentine treats, there are a few "surprise" prizes hidden throughout the hop, and the more comments you leave on the EAD tribute artists' blogs, the more chances you'll have to win! so get hopping, darlings!

Amy  

Colleen

Julie Smith

Julie Tucker-Wolek

June

Katie Brooks

Lauren Bergold: that's me! :)  

Rose

Stephanie 

Wendi 

city crafter and (possibly?) collage obsession

it's another oddball post, i'm afraid. but at the moment i seem to be seriously addicted to making fast, random collages, so bear with me, ok? this one is in honor of two challenges i've been longing to participate in. first up: my old favorite city crafter*, whose current call, "the key to my heart" is for projects which include both a heart and a key**. i've obviously got one of each, so i'm pretty sure we're good to go on that score, woohoo!

the second challenge is a new-to-me site called collage obsession, which i've be quietly and awe-fully stalking for the last few weeks. they want us to feature the newly announced pantone color of the year, radiant orchid in this week's color challenge. now, in real life, my flower is an almost perfect match, which is why i chose it as my centerpiece... but it's only one element of my otherwise neutrally-toned piece. add to that the fact that unfortunately, i left my photo-taking until rather late in this grey new jersey day, and it's messed with my color a bit, making my flower look pinker than it actually is. so i won't be crushed if the lovely folks at collage obsession disqualify me on that account, but i thank them for the inspiration, and hopefully i'll be back next week to play again! :)

meanwhile, i do hope everyone reading this has had a very pleasant sunday, which featured LOTS of artsy pursuits and as few chores as possible! ciao, darlings! ♥

*miss kirsty may recognize a few of the elements i have used here, seeing as the little resin bird, the music paper, the gem flourish, and the heart were all part of the wrappings of a lovely little parcel which came my way last week! ta v much, missus! ♥♥♥

**i've only just noticed that one of the first words at the top of the dictionary page i built my collage upon is "armpit". pretty sure mine will be the only entry this week at CCCB... or indeed ANY of the major papercrafting challenges, for that matter... to prominently feature a heart, a key, and an armpit. awesome. sorry guys. :)

is this too weird?

as you know, jeff and i have been reminiscing about hawaii a lot lately; but then a cold, grey, new jersey january will do that to you! the other day in the grocery i saw these little plastic palm trees and i just couldn't resist buying them, to make our own private island!

the base of my collage (assemblage? pretend island? what would YOU call this thing??) is a vintage atlas page; the sunset came from the same book. i've got some vintage dictionary paper (including the definition of "tropical"); the flowers and word are from a piece of creative imaginations paper. i wrote the word in big loopy script on a piece of scrap paper, then held it together with the patterned paper to cut it out. other than that, there's a little ink... a little machine stitching... and that's about it, i guess.

i debated quite a bit about posting a project as odd as this, but i'm longing to play along with city crafter's "arty trees" challenge, which ends today. plus you have to admit... these ARE artsy and they are trees, so there ya go! :)

let's play flamingo bingo!

in honor of the second week of our creature feature prompt at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ and the awesome "game night" challenge at city crafter!

(vintage: bingo card; patterned paper: making memories, ki memories, my mind's eye; glitter flamingo sticker: meri meri; snowflake: studio calico; gem: glitz design; bling +  border punch: recollections; adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner, 3m foam tape, sewing machine)

i'm excited to be playing along at CCCB after farrrrrrrrrrrrrr too long away! i'm also excited to have my first "three-fer" in quite some time, as i have also used this week's retrosketch in my layout:

and now i hope you'll hop over to ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ to see miss stephanie's card and start planning your own creative creature feature!

i may have accidentally cheated a little...

...on the color challenge i'm entering. but we'll get to that. at the moment i'm so excited to have had a little extra blogging, surfing, and unscheduled card-making time this week, that i'm almost giddy! it's all because of the floor re-finishing escapade, of course. because i have to be HERE in the house... but i'm basically trapped in the guestroom to escape the noise and mess. there are definitely worse fates, don't get me wrong!

so yesterday on my SOS teammate jessi's blog i saw the great multiple-sketch scenario to celebrate tuesday morning sketches' fourth birthday and i was determined to play. then i saw the berry berry fun "strawberry farm" challenge at city crafter, and i thought, "oh yeah!". finally, the current palette at color throwdown seemed like the perfect jumping off point for combining the other two. in a wave of enthusiasm, working with my rolling office chair pulled up to the edge of the bed, i made this:

(flower photo taken by me, printed on kodak premium high gloss paper and cut out; patterned paper: echo park, glitz design, basic grey + gingham gift wrap + old book paper that's been misted a bit + a digital music brush printed on inkjet transparency; strawberries: very old pack of glitter rub-ons from the $1 aisle at michaels; punches: ek success, recollections; alphas: american crafts; labels: dymo; washi tape: recollections; ink: colorbox; adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner, 3m foam tape)

ok so... for starters, it's not BERRY BERRY strawberry, is it?! nope. there's only one little berry on there!

in my original idea there was a whole border of them!!! but somehow the big flower sorta took over. i've still got the sentiment, though; and to make up, i put some more berries inside. see?

i did a lot better with the sketch part. i chose the one on the lower right, obviously:

admittedly, again, the big honkin' flower really took over, didn't it? i could've trimmed up, but it was so beautiful i didn't quite have the heart, so i just let it burst off the card! then there's the color palette, which is luscious, don't you think?

but you see the problem, right? i think my turquoise shade is more green than it ought to be; the one in the palette is quite a bit bluer. partly it's the way the card photographed, but also, when i saw the palette originally, it was in the evening and on my iphone, so i thought i was pretty close. in the daytime, on the big computer screen, i have my doubts. so i will totally understand if i am disqualified, especially since color throwdown is ALSO celebrating their anniversary... (FIVE years! congrats!) ... and they have some awesome prizes you should really check out!

i'll be back tomorrow with my second card for our JINGLE BELLES cardstock christmas prompt; i'm pretty proud of this one... i actually broke out quite a few rubber stamps, and serious inkiness ensued! ciao for now, darlings!

holy moly! a post on *MONDAY*??!

given my lamentably lean blogging schedule lately, your shock is understandable. but seeing as how we've been in the new house a full month, and we're (kinda/mostly!) unpacked and settling in, it's time to get back in the swing of things! plus, having missed the last two amazingly lauren-centric challenges over at city crafter (clouds and bon voyage!!!) i was determined not to let the current deadline for "spring has sprung" fly past me. so let's get right to the card, which is for my mother-in-law, and needs to be mailed, sharpish!

(turns out, most of the ingredients for this one were not "product" in the traditional sense, but here goes a vague list: scan of vintage postcard, printed on kodak premium photo paper; a bit of lovely prima packaging that's been trimmed and distress inked up a bit; scrap box strips of patterned paper from... i think... my mind's eye, studio calico and crate; some michaels-based silk flowers on which spray ink essperiments were performed some time ago; re-colored (with alcohol markers) kaiser pearls; prehistoric heidi swapp photo corners; machine stitching; and rounding off the adhesives category some staples brand gluetape runner, 3m foam tape, and gluedots! ta-da!)

and now here is the photo inspiration from CCCB, how fab does that vintage postcard scan pick up the colors, eh? i was pretty excited about that, lol:

i also used this rather awesome graphicat sketch #25 for my layout:

and i'm happy to be hopping in on the corrosive challenge blog's mother's day event, where my lovely SOS teammate miss carla is on the DT!

and now i shall be hopping off into the day, which is a monday... and a bit cloudy, in these parts... but i vote we make it awesome, anyway. who's with me, darlings?! ♥♥♥

it's a holiday white-out!

but luckily not the obnoxiously yucky kind, involving lots of snow and ice; or even the boring-but-helpful office-supply kind that corrects typos in the old school way; no, this particular "white-out" refers to the color scheme of my card, see?!

(patterned paper, upcycled bits of gorgeous packaging, florals, leaves, sheer white ribbon and window embellisment: prima; clear acrylic snowflake stickers: recollections; sparkly stars: queen and co; snowflake embossing folder, reindeer die and distress ink: tim holtz; silver rub-on: making memories; other: doilies; adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner, 3m foam tape, gluedots, sewing machine)

i was inspired by this week's city crafter challenge "i'll be home for christmas" which is an utterly drool-worthy photo inspiration:

i've used the many different shades and tones of white that are going on in the photo, as well as incorporating loads of lovely texture as featured in the chair, the giftwrap, etc; plus i've got the flowers and even a little bit of ribbon!

my other goal was to attempt at least one more card inspired by prima's luscious "12 days of christmas card inspiration" and this time i've gone with stacey young's beautiful example from day 6, from which i've taken the basic layout of her design, the circular frame, clusters of roses, and of course the sweet reindeer image as focal point!

meanwhile, the holly jolly christmas challenge is celebrating the three R's: i've got roses, a reindeer, and some ribbon-- woohoo-- so i'm linking up with those lovely ladies! finally, crafty hazelnut's christmas challenge #100 is "for someone special"; i've mentioned before that my favorite aunt's favorite color is *WHITE* and thus twice a year, for christmas and her birthday, i have a stab at making a card that's as close to all-white as possible... this time, i think i've come preeeeeeeetty close, and this one is very "her" in terms of style, as well, so i'm fairly pleased all round!

hope you are having a pleasingly productive weekend, darlings, or even a luxuriously lazy one, for that matter; just so it's had at least a little bit of FUN in it! ♥♥♥

stars + sparkle? sign me up!!!

this week's brief at city crafter-- stars and sparkle-- is, as you may already have noticed, right up my street! having said that, when i read the challenge, i envisioned making something very pink, very sparkly, and well, girly as all get out. then a little peek at my birthday book revealed that what i really need RIGHT NOW is a birthday card for my friend joshua. so some pretty fast mental recalculating took place, and i came up with this, instead:

(patterned paper: basic grey, authentique, dcwv; cardstock: core'dinations; thickers: american crafts; gem stars: queen + co; star dies: spellbinders; ink: colorbox; adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner, 3m foam tape, gluedots, sewing machine)

one of my favorite things about josh is that a card with the word "dude" spelled out in sparkly silver glitter letters will not so much as raise an eyebrow on his part. gotta love that in a man, right??! 

for my layout, i used kimber mcgray's saturday card challenge sketch at two peas in a bucket:

this is one i will print out and save, since i can already see about 27 different ways to use it... some of which involve washi tape... come to think of it, i think i will sign off and pursue at least one of those right now. do go back to enjoying your regularly scheduled sunday, darlings, this may take some time! :)

i'm not sure if this is an art journal page... or a card...

at the moment it's the former, but if my main idea for my friend paul's annual birthday collage doesn't pan out, then i think it might turn into a card, sharpish!

 (vintage bits: time card, ticket stub, book paper, sheet music; other bits: my photoshopped hibiscus photo, part of a calendar page, scraps of hindi newspaper; patterned paper: sei, basic grey; tape: heidi swapp; brackets: cosmo cricket; rub-ons: autumn leaves, basic grey, 7 gypsies; quote formatted in broderbund printshop using sidewalk and bohemian typewriter fonts and printed on a 3m inkjet transparency; adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner, scotch gluestick)

Read, every day, something no one else is reading. 
Think, every day, something no one else is thinking. 
Do, every day, something no one else 
would be silly enough to do. 
It is bad for the mind to be always part of unanimity.
-Christopher Morley

i used an old sketch from scrap friends which i had printed out when it was current-- at the beginning of september-- but which got snowed under a pile of other stuff on my desk. as many things do. though frankly, you should really dismiss those pesky rumors about the lindbergh baby out of hand, they are completely untrue!

nonetheless, having unearthed said sketch yesterday, i remembered how much i loved both it, and this amazing layout my lovely and inspirational blogging friend sandi taloumis made from it. you'll notice that my interpretation is, alas, really nothing like either of those. but it's kind of fun, anyway, i think. and the main thing is, it uses that totally brilliant christopher morley quote which i just found recently and could not wait to use in the current city crafter challenge (#130) to impart inspiring words or advice. speaking of city crafter, you really ought to hop over there and see the DT projects because they are even more stellar than usual, which, believe me, is SAYING SOMETHING.

and now it just remains for me to send a very, VERY happy (and only sliiiiightly belated!) birthday wish to my lovely friend linda robinson, who just happens to be on the aforesaid CCCB team, and who is being celebrated HERE, if you'd like to join in!

♥HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LINDA!!!♥

(and many more!)

whaddaya do with "partial" images from the edges of patterned paper?

put 'em on the edge of your card! problem solved. :)

(patterned paper: dear lizzy, amy tangerine, glitz design, echo park; seniment sticker: amy tangerine; pearls and sparkly stars: queen and co; banner rub-on: hambly (how i MISS YOU!!!); twine: the twinery; butterfly punch: martha stewart; paper doily from... the grocery store? agggggges ago; adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner, 3m foam tape, scotch gluestick, sewing machine)

because while i'm sure there has to be somebody somewhere who's used a full sheet of adorable dear lizzy mason jars *without* cutting them out... i confess that i just have not happened to see it yet; and i most definitely haven't done it, myself. and yeah, this one was right at the edge of the sheet, but there's still plenty enough of it to use! i love the printed star elements inside the jar, so i added some sparkly dimensional stars to those; and then grabbed some amy tangerine goodness, a doily, some banners, and went from there. my starting point was the gorgeous color palette my lovely blogging friend linda robinson has chosen for this week's city crafter challenge (#129); which was rocked in a big, biiiiig way by ALL of the ladies at CCCB, naturally!

for layout, i grabbed kimber mcgray's blueprint for this week's two peas saturday card sketch challenge; though you can see that i flipped the design horizontally because i happened to use a "left-handed" jar.

i'm sneeeeeeeeeaking in on the very last day of moxie fab world's jars of joy challenge. i don't know if i've used mine in an "innovative" way... but it's pretty cute anyway, i guess.

you know that i am OBSESSED with texture, and this card happens to be a good example of a few really easy ways to add some o'that: first, the mason jar is popped up on a layer of foam tape. i don't mean pop dots, (which i find too thick) i mean the 1/16" thick 3m brand foam mounting tape they sell in rolls at staples, of which i use A LOT; and the reason is, that tiny gap between base and focal point-- and the teeny little shadow it casts-- really makes whatever you use it on literally stand out! then of course things like flat-backed sticky pearls, sparkly star embellies, baker's twine and machine stitching automatically add dimension and interest. but you can get even more texture from flat old paper... just by the way you attach it. if you look at the green bunting, the white scallop border, and the doily under the mason jar, you'll see what i mean: i haven't glued them all the way down, but left the edges just a liiiiiiittle bit loose. don't worry, everything is securely ON THERE; the doily and scallops have layers on top of them, and the bunting's machine stitching turns out to not be only for decoration. ;) 

well, i think that's all for today, except to wish my american friends a very happy columbus day; my canadian friends a wonderful thanksgiving weekend; and to everyone else, ummmmmmmm... well... another monday is at least halfway over-- gotta love that, eh?! ciao, darlings!

old + new + tape = BEST INCHIES EVER?!

i was pretty excited last week when my lovely city crafter challenge blog friends announced that the challenge for week 127 would be to incorporate inchies into a project; ever since i made my second postal card for the last JINGLE BELLES prompt i've been in a serious inchies mood! this time i knew i wanted to make a birthday card for niece lindsay. i'd envisaged the finished product being rather more *PURPLE* (her favorite color!) but other than that, i'm quite pleased with the result:

(patterned paper: amy tangerine and bo bunny plus scraps of doodlebug, pink paislee, prima, my mind's eye, dear lizzy and more; rosettes: amy tangerine, dear lizzy; tapes: love my tapes, october afternoon, recollections, hambly; brads: amy tangerine, doodlebug, october afternoon; tin pin: october afternoon; epoxy stickers: ki, michaels, susan branch; large pin and flag: pink paislee; small pins: making memories, little yellow bicycle; rub-ons: basic grey, american crafts; ink: color box; adhesives: staples brand glue tape runner, 3m foam tape, gluedots)

the other reason i was excited is that i've been thinking for a while that maybe the most PERFECT way ever to adorn inchies would be with washi and deco tape... and that the result would look quite a bit like the card i imagined for my second shot at love my tapes' september challenge which is  to incorporate tape in a grid design. unfortunately, i (incorrectly!) remembered that challenge as being open until the end of september, whereas it actually finished on friday. ah well. i was still completely inspired by the fabulous, fun layout tina walker made, and i KNOW i will use this technique again and again!

on the other hand, i'm thinking the people from retro sketches might gasp (and perhaps weep?!) when they see what i've done with this week's gorgeous minimalist retro sketch #20. don't worry, you guys, think of me as the card-making equivalent of the person at the BEGINNING of the show "what not to wear", ok?! :)

i don't think i will be the source of any controversy at so artful challenges, because i've not only used all the colors in their gorgeous magic garden inspiration, i've even thrown in some of the circley shapes AND i've definitely got the "fiesta" spirit that the picture evokes! (i know, i know, it was only a COLOR challenge, but i really found a lot more to love in that cool photo, so i went with it!)

is it just me, or does blogging "live" on the morning of the last day of a challenge make anyone else feel like a disorganized mess? what in the world did we do before auto-scheduling, eh??! it must've been like the DARK AGES, lol!

happy monday darlings! 

(is that too much of a contradiction in terms?! nahhh...)

♥♥♥

this has a LOT of layers... (even for ME!) :)

it's biiiiiiiiiiiiiig for a card, as well, at nine inches square! i'm not worried about mailing it, as it's my mom's birthday card, and i'll be seeing her on the day. though if it had to be posted, some corrugated cardboard and a padded mailer would see this safely to its destination; another strategy i employ with "lumpy" cards is to save them for the folks to whom i am also mailing a gift... then everything just goes in a box together and you're golden!

you'll notice that whilst this card OVER-achieves in almost every other category, what it doesn't have is a huge range of color, and that's because my lovely blogging friend linda robinson is hostess at the city crafter challenge blog this week and she's invited us to go monochromatic. so i did!

(vintage: advertisements and text from "the deliniator" magazine published by butterick patterns, 1907; sheet music (also early 20th century), trading stamps, sewing pattern, lingerie lace, beaded trim; patterned paper: basic grey; vintage style embellishments: tim holtz, girls' paperie, pier one; pearl flourishes: want2scrap; giant rhinestone (on a pebbles xl brad): glitz; lace tape: love my tapes; flowers: from michaels' silk flower dept; other: feathers, lace; leaf dies: cuttlebug; inks: ranger, colorbox; adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner, scotch gluestick, gluedots, 3m foam tape and double stick tape, hot glue, sewing machine)

i went with shades of cream because it's my mom's favorite color, and also because this week at inspired by laurel seabrook is embracing earth tones:

this is yet another week in which "inspired by" did not turn out to mean "looks like the picture" lol! but that is one of my favorite things about laurel, that she STARTS with a photo, but is willing to go wherever it takes her; and willing to follow us there, as well! in this case, my primary inspiration wound up being the color, the idea of texture, and a lot of fabric/sewing details, also i've worked in a little bit of an autumnal feeling by using die cut leaf accents!  (as a bonus, that bit of sheet music is a song entitled "falling leaves" though, sadly, in the end the title just stuck up too far and got trimmed off!) 

for placement i used this fabulous sketch from cherry bits, the blog for the online papercrafting store a cherry on top; i've rotated it 90 degrees clockwise, and taken a few liberties, so i may not actually qualify, but it's a corker of a sketch and it was a big inspiration to me, so i'm giving credit where it's due!

i'm also jumping in on this cool tic-tac-toe challenge at a new (to me!) challenge blog called come and get it, i've done the top row across: pearls, lace and die cuts!  

here's a closer look at my tic-tac-toe elements, and just generally at the wide range of embellies, lol!

finally, my apologies to miss patrice: i've been linking my jingle belles card to her 52-card-pick-up challenge each week, but last friday i totally forgot, so here's a different link in lieu, missus, i hope you like it! ♥♥♥

unlike ordinary cupcakes, this one is mail-able! :)

also unlike ordinary cupcakes, this is the sort that even *I* know how to "bake"! i was happy to do so in honor of this week's city crafter challenge, which is set by my lovely friend kirsty vittetoe, and called BAKE SALE; for which one can submit anything that is baking related. so using as my template an old store-bought, cupcake-shaped card which someone sent to me several years ago, i made this:

(vintage seam binding; patterned paper: studio calico, reminisce; bling heart: recollections; pearl flourish: prima; ink: colorbox; adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner, 3m foam tape, sewing machine)

sneaking in to a few more challenges, the recipe this week at the catered crop is for projects which are "in the pink"; the crafty pad is calling for cards which are "anything but square"; at robyn's fetish the brief is for pearls, swirls and glitter: the first two are easy to see, but slightly more subtle is the fact that my heart "candy" decoration on top is made from glittered shimmery paper; the ribbon girl's september card challenge would also like to see pearls-- and ribbon, of course-- i've actually made my "whipped cream" from vintage seam binding of which i found a whole luscious roll at a garage sale last summer; i think i paid a dollar, tops, maybe even fifty cents, to a woman who was clearly puzzled as to why ANYONE would be chortling so gleefully over such a find, lol! :)

i hope your labor day weekend has included at least one such happily serendipitous surprise; if it hasn't yet... today might be your day!!! ciao, darlings! ♥♥♥

a "three-fer" that will most likely be disqualified THREE times, lol! :)

the city crafter challenge blog is always one of my favorite places to play, just because they have really creative prompts to get me thinking and one of the best and most inspiring teams around to give me a "hint" if i get stuck! either of those two factors would be enough, really, to keep me coming back, but the combination is exponentially more AWESOME! this week's challenge is called "wishi washi 2" and it's harder than it sounds at first; because-- as you may have guessed-- we're incorporating washi tape (or any deco tape, really!) but here's the trick: apart from tape, you can only have TWO other items!  YIKES!!!  i chose basic grey paper and brads, and came up with this:

(patterned paper and brads: basic grey; decorative tape (paper, plastic, and fabric varieties): love my tapes, heidi swapp, 7 gypsies; ink: colorbox; pencil: prismacolor; adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner, 3m foam tape, gluedots) 

ok,  so, first possible disqualification: i realized as i was typing my supply list that i just *assumed* we could have basic things like tools, inks, pens, adhesives and white cardstock as a "gimmee"! if those count as extra items-- which they might!-- i have blown this in a biiiiiiiiig way, and humbly remove myself from play at city crafter, sorry guys!!! i cannot be sorry in any other way, though, because i really like this card and would not have made it without ya! :)

do i even have to tell you that my favorite part of this is the tape+paper pinwheels*??! and the thing is, they were a total fluke, they just happened to be part of the illustration for this week's basic grey sketch, see?

but of course i was looking for an embellishment that would add a little texture and dimension without taking me "over my limit" and they just seemed PERFECT! but here's my second probable disqualification: when i went back to the BG blog to link up, i realized they are specifically asking for LAYOUTS this week; something i have only just noticed (because i tend to use all sketches interchangeably!) is that they have designated card and LO sketches. so again, sorry BG, but isn't it nice to know how FLEXIBLE these things are??! :)

my third almost certainly ineligble challenge the august one at love my tapes, in which they want us to think up creative ways to make flowers from tape. you can see the problem for this one already, can't you? yeah. technically these are not EXACTLY flowers, are they? but go with me a second: they're a similar shape/profile... they sort of function in the same way on my card... they're in a context of pink and green and "gardeny" prints, and i've given them some washi tape leaves to make them a little more "floral", lol.  ok, mebbe not. but i do think they are kind of clever, and they're most definitely made from tape (backed with paper); but again, i will not be shocked or insulted if i am disqualified from play! :) 

here's a closer photo, so you can see them better: 

right, so the bottom line for me here: i apologize if anyone from the challenges involved feels i have wasted their time or flouted their rules, because that was certainly not my intention! but i LOVED making this card, and i also love how it turned out; and the fact is, it would not even exist but for the triple inspiration, for which i am most sincerely grateful! thank you!♥♥♥

*there's a little mini photo tutorial in the post below this one, if you want to see exactly what i did; it's not complicated, though, lol! 

another *combo* card... with (the same) technique! :)

because, let's face it, i'm not really a "two techniques in the same week" kind of gal. i am very much an, "ok i've learned this, what else can i DO with it?!" kind of gal, and almost before i'd finished the dear mr. dear card, i was thinking of possible variations to the awesome faux leather technique, my first question being, "what would it look like if you used PRINTED masking tape?" so of course i had to have a go:

i used some tim holtz tissue tape, since it seemed to have the closest consistency to regular masking tape of anything in my collection. i covered cardstock with small randomly torn bits of tape, coated it with some soft pink distress ink, embossed with clear powder, and diecut the result into flowers:

do they look anything at all like leather? ummmmm... not so much. but they are pretty danged cool, nonetheless! they're also exactly the sort of thing i wanted for love my tape's august challenge, in which they want you to make flowers using decorative tape. meanwhile, this week at city crafter (#122), the lovely miss cheryl* wants us to use a bit of fabric, whereas the shabby tea room's "for the love of books" challenge requests pink, aqua, cream and newsprint. and of course the simon says stamp and show... a favorite technique challenge is still running, so i might as well pop back in over there! armed with my gorgeous new flowers, all of those seemed do-able, especially if i had a great sketch. howsabout this sweet sunday sketch (#165)? yep, that'll be perfect!

so, after all that, wanna see my card?!  ok, here ya go:

(vintage: article from september 1907 copy of "the deliniator" magazine, published by butterick; patterned paper: pink paislee, basic grey, prima, october afternoon; cardstock butterflies: pink paislee; brads: my mind's eye; tissue tape: tim holtz; pink polka dot fabric tape: love my tapes; border punches: recollections; other: vintage eyelet lace, pink cotton fabric, ivory tulle; ink: ranger; embossing powder: psx; adhesives: staples glue tape runner, 3m foam tape, sewing machine)

ok, so yeah, it's a pretty BIG card (7x8") but i couldn't bear to trim that gorgeous hundred year old magazine article any smaller, i mean LOOK at the posh, decorated headline; and how could i neglect to mention that this season's fashion forecast from paris was written by none other than THE edouard la fontaine**??!?! plus the text of the article is wonderful, as well, so i left it large and just worked around it! you can see i've used almost ALL of my purpose made flowers, and PILED ON lacy "fashion-related" trimmings, here's a better view:

i've got some torn cotton quilting fabric, pleated into ruffles, a bit of elderly eyelet lace, some smooshed up tulle (that's hard to see here, but cool irl!) and some pink polka-dotted fabric tape, which i got at the LMT booth at scrapbook expo. of the latter, you only SEE a tiny bit wrapping around at each edge, but structurally, it was CRUCIAL in securing all of those layers (which themselves are only lightly tacked with my gluetape runner) to the card; something i'm sort of only just realizing is how sturdy that stuff is, and how practical for making bulkier things stay put! i have actually gone back in and sewn on top of the tape, and around each panel, but that was really just for decoration; the fabic tape secured everything quite nicely!

here's hoping this thursday is treating you well, but if not... the nicest thing about thursday is ... it tends to show up just before ♥FRIDAY♥ doesn't it, darlings?! :) :) :)

*the lovely cheryl nelson is (temporarily, one hopes!) leaving her post at city crafter to heed the call of family duties; holy WOW i will miss her, but i hope she will be back soon and in the meantime will follow her gorgeous personal blog with even more attention!!! ♥♥♥ au revoir, miss cheryl, come back soon!!! ♥♥♥

**no, i have no idea who that was, either; frankly i kind of suspect it was more like a guy from queens called "eddie fountain" but he does SOUND sooooo very posh and continental, no?! i'd definitely take his fashion advice!!! :)